Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Oledan: Social distance By Radzini Oledan Slice of life
URBAN governance is both government responsibility and civic engagement.
It is a situation where every stakeholder recognizes that without effective approaches, there will be an increase in the number of urban poor and continued deterioration of their living conditions.
The indiscriminate use of resources and unfettered consumption without regard to ecological damage and environmental impact will also continue.
But good governance must extend beyond current needs. Present urban problems are only the beginning. While massive urban growth is inevitable and necessary, the way it grows will make all the difference.
Both the government and the public have to be ready to face the challenge.
An effective response to urban challenge must look into a spatial dimension; integrating social and environmental concerns for urban growth within a broader vision of time and space is critical for sustainability.
It is the process of effectively partnering with public agencies and different segments of civil society in order to respond effectively to local needs in a participatory, transparent, and accountable manner.
These approaches should build on, rather than discourage, the efforts of poor individuals and groups to gain more secure, healthy, and gainful homes and livelihoods in the urban areas.
Critical information and technical capability are needed to enable the public to genuinely participate. There is also a need for changes in the policy outlook by influencing policymakers to expect urban growth with an open mind.
Urbanization is not only inevitable but also a positive force. It provides a better position in education and health care, as well as in the provision of other services and amenities, simply because of its advantage of scale and proximity. The environmental problems in urban growth could be minimized with better urban management.
Development empowers the exercise of human rights and gives people greater control over their lives.
But effective governance and management in the changing social and environmental context call for reliable updated information and analysis. This will have to respond to current situation where poor people lack the power to make their voices heard by policymakers.
Many are effectively invisible and their invisibility means less investment, inaccessible schools and health posts, high absentee rates for doctors and teachers assigned to poor districts, and a significant social distance between service providers and their clients.
Information enables the public to understand their rights, formulate their demands, keep pressure on planners and politicians, and monitor their response.
Communities are starting to document their own living conditions, assets, and needs. In the process, they are building knowledge among and about the community and strengthen their ranks to become a formal stakeholder in local governance.
There is a need to go into the practical aspects of understanding the actual and potential demand for information and organizing information systems that can respond to the demands of our time.
